There are at least ten South American vegetables and fruits that can be grown in Tasmania. They are all worth considering because they are nutritious and add variety to your diet. Quite a few of them are rarely available in Tasmanian shops and markets. This makes it even more worthwhile to grow them yourself. Want to know your tomatillos from your tamarillos and tomatoes? Keep reading ...
Two of the plants discussed below are so world-famous that most people don't even realise that they originally came from South America. I am of course talking about potatoes and tomatoes.
Most of the others are far less well known. Some are virtually unknown, for no good reason. In some cases nurseries won't even stock them. That is where the produce table of a group like the Food Garden Group may be the best place to lay your hands on them.
 |
| map courtesy @SouthAmericaHub (Twitter) |
Worth noting also is that seven out of the ten plants discussed below are part of the Solanaceae (Nightshade) family.
An old and wise horticulturalist once said "if you want to know what a plant needs, study the climate and environment of the place where it originated in the wild". That very much applies here.
Cape Gooseberry
Species and family: Physalis peruviana - Solanaceae
Also known as: Incan Berry, Golden Berry, Husk Cherry
Native to: Peru and Chile - it was first cultivated by the Incas
Description: Cape Gooseberry is a straggly perennial bush that produces little fruits that are very nice and sweet. It is closely related to the green and much more savoury Tomatillo.
Best growing conditions: needs very little care. Will sow itself out where you planted it, and beyond, but it is easily removed where you don't want it in your garden.
Produces: prolific bearer of small orange berries that are ripe when the husk they are contained in goes papery (see photo). The berries can be eaten fresh, used to make fruit-based sauces and jams, or added to cakes.
Chilean Guave
Species and family: Ugni moline - Myrtaceae
Also know as: strawberry myrtle
Native to: Southern Chile and Argentina
Description: up to 1.5 metre high and one-metre wide dense bush. A row of Chilean Guavas can be made into a hedge. Responds well to pruning. Best grown from cuttings. Like the 'real' guava, Chilean Guava is part of the myrtle family, but Guava is a tropical fruit, and Chilean Guava is not.
Best growing conditions: if you are after the delicious berries, grow it in moist, well-drained soil in full sun. However, it will tolerate part shade. Tolerates dry conditions once established.
Produces: delicious small fruits with a nice smell that often don't even reach the kitchen for processing into jams or fruit sauces. Chilean Guava contains many antioxidants and a lot of vitamin A and C.
Feijoa
Species and family: Acca sellowiana - Myrtaceae
: Pineapple Guava (because the shape of the fruit resembles 'real' Guava), Guavasteen
Native to: the highlands of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina
Description: an evergreen shrub or small tree (up to 4 metres high) that produces small red-white flowers and small green fruits. Easily pruned and shaped for ornamental situations. Feijoa is also cultivated as an ornamental tree or bush and used to create hedges. Have at least two bushes for good cross-pollination and more fruit. Attract birds and bees.
Best growing conditions: a warm-temperate or subtropical climate. However, in order to fruit it requires at least fifty hours of winter chilling. It is frost-tolerant. In Tasmania it does well in sunny sheltered conditions with well-draining soil.
Produces: fruits in autumn and early winter that smell pleasantly sweet and have a nice sweet taste. The fruits are ripe when they fall from the tree. May be eaten fresh or used to make jam, ice-cream or in cakes. These small green fruits don't travel well - that's why you don't see them in the shops.
Oca
Species and family: Oxalis tuberose - Solanaceae
Also known as: New Zealand Yam - Oca and Okra are not the same: Okra is not South-American.
Native to: the Central and Southern Andes
Description: non-invasive member of the Oxalis family that produces great numbers of tubers if allowed to be in the ground from spring until foliage has died off in autumn. There are many Oca varieties ranging in colour from light-yellow to dark-red.
Best growing conditions: tolerates poor soils, a wide range of pHs and cool conditions because of where it originates. Ocas produce best if put in nicely friable, slightly sandy soil and are watered adequately. Plant the tubers in spring just under the soil surface, and harvest only after the foliage has died down in autumn. Frost will kill the foliage. Tubers will re-sprout in spring if left in the ground over winter. Don't hill ocas - they are not potatoes.
Produces: raw ocas are slightly sweet and sour, and crunchy like a fresh apple. They can be eaten raw in salads or sliced and used in stir-fries with minimal cooking. After harvesting Andean farmers leave tubers in the sun for a few days to sweeten them. Don't peel them, just give them a good brush and wash them. Oca is a valuable source of potassium, vitamin C and iron. In South America the raw fruit is sometimes pickled with vinegar.
More information: Ocas are covered in more detail in blog post
All about Oca on the FGG blog, and in great detail at
Cultivariable.
Pepino
Species and family: Solanum muricatum - Solanaceae
Also known as: Pepino Melon, Melon Pears, Tree Melon
Native to: originally from the subtropical areas of the Andes area in Peru and Chile it is now also widely distributed in Colombia and Bolivia
Description: a less than one metre high evergreen perennial shrub that in Tasmania produces a nice amount of fruit for about two seasons. Take cuttings when a bush is at its best, strike them, and then replace the old bush by one or more new ones the following spring. Don't plant the new plants in the same spot.
Best growing conditions: Tolerant of a wide range of soils and conditions, but will grow best in a well drained soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7.5. Pepino is excellent for any frost free area. Prepare soil with aged compost before planting. Pepinos grow fast and will send out roots wherever branches touch the ground. Water during hot weather. Having other Pepino plants nearby will increase yield. Pepinos will set fruit once evening temperatures are 18 degrees C or higher. Prune at the end of its first season.
Produces: small melons with a soft, edible yellow skin and purple striping. In Tasmanian in summers with enough warm sunny weather Pepino plants produce fruit for many months of the year. A Pepino is ripe when it is orange and striped (see photo). They do not ripen further once picked. Pepinos are mildly sweet with hints of banana and pear. Pepinos contain lots of vitamin A, C, K and B, iron, copper and calcium. Cook unripe pepino melon for a stronger cucumber flavour.
Potato
Species and family: Solanum tuberosum - Solanaceae
Native to: the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. Over 3000 potato varieties are native to these areas. Potatoes were first cultivated by the Incas.
Description: Now grown in most parts of the world from Iceland to the tropics.
Best growing conditions: reasonably fertile well-draining soil with regular rain fall
Tamarillo
Species and family: Solanum betaceum - Solanaceae
Also known as: tree tomatoes
Native to: the Andes of Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Chile Argentina and Bolivia. Today it is still cultivated in gardens and small orchards for local production, and it is one of the most popular fruits in these regions.
Description: a fast-growing small tree that grows to five metres. It reaches peak production after four years, and lives 5 to 12 years. Fruits hang from lateral branches. The leaves are perennial.
Best growing conditions: Tamarillo trees are easy to grow. Having said this, it is good to know what they like and don't like. It prefers a subtropical climate and is intolerant to frost. Has shallow, not very well developed roots and is therefore not drought-tolerant. In Tasmania plant in fertile, well-draining soil where there is no frost, in a position with all day sun. This is not very robust: don't put it in a very windy spot. The tree does not need to be fertilised after planting. Cross-pollination results in more fruit. Propagation can be done from cuttings or seed.
Produces: fruits that are tangy, quite tart when raw, and have a complex flavour, not at all like tomatoes. The skin and the flesh near it have a bitter taste and are not usually eaten raw. Tamarillos are often eaten cooked. Very high in vitamins and iron, and low in calories.
Tomatillo
Species and family: Physalis philadelphia - Solanaceae
Also know as: Mexican Husk Tomato
Native to: Central America and Mexico. Important crop for the Mayas and Aztecs.
Description: a perennial plant in theory. Prolific producer the first year, then little thereafter, so mostly grown from seed each year. It has a straggly habit and can reach a height of 1.5 metres with many branches. Needs to be staked. Leaves, flowers and fruits are similar to those of Cape Gooseberry.
Best growing conditions: raise from seed in a hothouse and treat them exactly like you treat tomatoes, but they need more sun hours and more warmth than tomatoes to produce truly ripe fruit. Not frost tolerant, but quite hardy otherwise. In Tasmania Tomatillos will love to be grown in a hothouse. To get proper pollination and fruiting you need to have more than one plant. Fruits will need till the end of the season to ripen fully. Volunteer Tomatillos will appear next season if you allow fruits to stay on the ground.
Produces: Fruits that look both on the outside and inside like a small tomato, but that are each in a husk. Fruits are light-green, then go light-yellow or purple (depending on the variety) when ripe. When ripe, the husk goes papery. Taste is slightly sour, like a cross between plum and tomato (some people say). Cooked their taste goes sweeter. Also good to semidry and freeze, then add to any mexican dish like taco beans, con carne. Chop them fresh through a salad too for a sweet tart taste. Roast or grill them whole and then add them to salsas and dips.
Tomato
 |
| FGG member Peter R.'s tomato display in 2013 |
Species and family: Solanum lycopersicum - Solanaceae
Native to: west of the Andes and Mexico. The Tomato was first cultivated by the Aztecs.
Description: the Tomato is a perennial in theory, but is grown as an annual in most cases. Modern tomato varieties are either determinate (bush) or indeterminate (vine). There are now thousands of tomato varieties that were created to either suit local conditions or achieve a certain taste or look. Fruits vary in size from very small (cherry) to very large (beefsteak).
Best growing conditions: a permanent temperature range of between 20 and 30 degrees with all-day sun and plenty of water.
Yacon
Species and family: Smallanthus conchifolius - Asteraceae
Also known as: Peruvian Ground Apple
Native to: Northern and Central Andes (Colombia, Ecuador). Traditionally it is grown on the eastern slopes of the Andes.
Description: Yacon is a hardy plant that can grow quite high and in most conditions produces an ample crop of tubers each season. It is a relative of the Sunflower and Jerusalem Artichoke, but it is not invasive like the Jerusalem Artichoke. In Autumn it produces small sunflower-like flowers.
Best growing conditions: A Yacon is grown from its crown, a bit like an Asparagus plant is grown from a crown. The plant is perennial, but is most productive if transplanted in winter when the foliage has dies off after frost. Yacon is drought-tolerant and tolerates light frosts. Grows best in temperatures of between 18 and 25 degrees C. Harvest tubers when the foliage has died down at the end of the season. Keep the crowns and replant next season. Make Yacon part of your rotation plan, and group them together with fertiliser requiring plants (stage 2 of the rotation plan discussed on this blog - Big Eaters).
Produces: tubers that are sweet and crunchy. The taste is not at all what you expect from a tuber. It tastes a bit like pear. Yacon tubers can be eaten either raw (in salads) or cooked. Their flesh oxidises quickly ('goes brown' like apple). This is why it has not found its way onto restaurant menus. The tubers are best harvested at the end of the season. Then sit them in the sun for a few days to enhance sweetness. If left unharvested, the tubers rot in the ground, and fertilise the plant the following season. The most abundant minerals in Yacon are calcium and potassium. Yacons are rich in essential amino acids. Yacon tubers can be stored in the fridge until needed.
I was inspired to write this blog post after seeing Food Garden Group members Avril and Brett grow some of the South American food plants mentioned above. Thank you, Avril, for sharing with me your experiences with some of the plants discussed in this blog post.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.